Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Stock Price

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $510.00 to $400.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on SAIA. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Saia in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Saia from $456.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Saia in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Saia from $565.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Saia from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Saia Price Performance

Shares of SAIA opened at $359.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $431.71 and a 200-day moving average of $464.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Saia has a 52 week low of $342.68 and a 52 week high of $624.55.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.03). Saia had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Saia will post 15.46 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Patrick D. Sugar sold 799 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.74, for a total transaction of $394,498.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,629 shares in the company, valued at $4,260,482.46. This trade represents a 8.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 7,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.34, for a total transaction of $3,671,619.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,599,114.30. The trade was a 29.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,493 shares of company stock worth $4,646,181 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Saia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Saia by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,522,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,149,779,000 after buying an additional 25,090 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Saia by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,939,615 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $883,941,000 after buying an additional 794,197 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Saia by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 805,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $352,255,000 after acquiring an additional 24,351 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Saia by 10.2% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 692,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $302,761,000 after acquiring an additional 64,351 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Saia by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 471,667 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $206,292,000 after acquiring an additional 6,456 shares in the last quarter.

Saia Company Profile

Saia, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a transportation company in North America. The company provides less-than-truckload services for shipments between 100 and 10,000 pounds; and other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services. It also offers other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services.